GH2 and Pany 7-14mm lens in a 10Bar housing with a Ikelite DS-161 strobe. All settings manual for camera and strobe.
With a wide angle lens it can be tough to get a Turtle to give you a good look when you're both swimming and less then a meter apart. Any further away and the water really starts to degrade IQ as you can see by the coral which was about 2 meters away. Light doesn't travel well underwater so proximity is critical to show the true colors.

Your complaint (along with the complaints of others regarding this entry) will be
reviewed by the challenge owner. Depending upon the nature and applicability of the
complaint, the entry may be disqualified. In extreme circumstances the user who submitted
the entry may receive a ban from the challenge or series in question.

Thanks, I am lucky because I can dive every week so while I don't quite swim like a fish, I'm pretty darn comfortable in the water. Still a lot going on when trying to keep up with one of these guys. It's also not often they are in the mood to let you even get close. It's all up to them, you will be swimming as fast as your fins can move you and they are just gliding. When they tire of the paparazzi they just kick it into a gear you don't have and their going in a heartbeat. I sure don't get these opportunities very often.

Very nice shot! Congrats! If I'm allowed for some critics: Composition, angle of view etc is very good. I know how hard it is to get a shot of them swiming. Its easier when they feed on the corals :).

One downside for me is the digital processing. The white balance went a bit too far to red. The blue water is usually really blue here you see it going to dark violet at some parts.

Perhaps the quite fast 1/160 shutter speed could be a bit slower. I usually go around 1/80, that brightens the background a bit (it gives a more natural blue). In your case, the fast shutter separates the turtle quite well from the background although it's a bit unrealistic, thought its a matter of taste (and flash ;).

Thanks, I'll try slowing down the shutter and see how it affects these types of shots. I tend to use the higher speed when I'm swimming fast and shooting, in this case I was on my back and with the camera aimed sort of behind me and swimming a little blind through the coral. I was just happy I got what I did. I'll play with it though.

Not sure how to adjust the WB on the fly. I leave it on auto and let the strobe light what it lights. I try to keep it as low as possible because of scatter. I didn't post the WB because I don't know how to use the masking tool and I didn't want to mess up the Turtle.

I did do some PP after I submitted this and do like it more but feel like it's too processed. There is a skill to PP'ing water that I don't have. I'm not sure it's better but I'm new at this stuff so I do appreciate the feedback.

I can imagine how it was. They seem to be slow, but they are fast under water without seeming so :).

With the white balance I'm usually also on auto but I shoot in raw. That gives me the advantage to redo the WB without loss. If you film you will need to set it in camera. Post processing is ugly there.

With the slower shutter you have more motion blur for shure :). but it could look quite cool, if you see (for example) one hand of the turtle in motion blur or the background movement. On the other hand camera shake is more an issue then. But with the flash your main subject usually is sharp enough.

The big scatter problem with flashes is partly (not in extreme conditions) solvable, if you move the flash as far away from the camera as your flex arm allows and try not to directly flash the main subject. Like this, the scatter doesn't reflect the flashlight into your lens but into another direction. Works quite well.

Thank you Ed. I was very pleased with the shot but my wife liked one that came a few seconds later and I almost submitted that. I went with my gut knowing she has that divers mindset and looks at these things differently then most non divers.

When you entered that as one of the last submissions I thought I didn't stand a chance. I just love the look on that little guys face. Superb, and if I voted in challenges that I entered I would have given it a 5. I'm pleasantly surprised I beat it.